Cook County judge removed from duties following arrest

Cook County Sheriff

Cook County judge removed from duties following arrest.

Cook County judge removed from duties following arrest. (Cook County Sheriff)

Steve SchmadekeTribune reporter

A Cook Countyjudge was removed from the bench Monday following separate incidents last week in which she was arrested after shoving a courthouse deputy and ordered to leave her Markham courtroom after launching a lengthy tirade.

The Cook County circuit court’s executive committee – a panel of supervising judges – took the rare action against Judge Cynthia Brim, citing that there was “reasonable cause to believe that a medical examination may reveal” that she is unable to perform her judicial duties.

Brim, 53, is banned from court facilities until further order, according to the order signed by Chief Judge Timothy Evans and 17 other presiding judges. She must be escorted by sheriff’s deputies if she has business in a courthouse, the order said.

The order also noted that Brim was charged with a crime – a misdemeanor battery – that “reflects adversely on her fitness to serve” and that there are unspecified “allegations of inappropriate conduct by Judge Brim.”

Brim was arrested Friday after shoving a sheriff’s deputy and tossing a set of keys at a Daley Center security checkpoint, police said.

One day earlier, Brim, who had filled in for other judges, launched into a tirade that lasted about 45 minutes while presiding over a traffic court call at the Markham courthouse, sources said. Judge Brian Flaherty, who was the acting presiding judge that day, eventually asked Brim to leave the courtroom.

Another judge was brought in to hear the traffic cases from South Holland.

In 2010 Brim was one of four judges reassigned and paired with mentor judges after a TV report alleged they weren’t putting in eight-hour workdays.